Saint Paul Police Department: Effective Policing Through Full Engagement

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Saint Paul Police DepartmentEffective Policing
Through Full Engagement

• Sergeant Paul Schnell

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Genesis of Concept

• Facilitated voluntary negotiations between police
  command personnel and local chapter of NAACP
  June 2001.
• Locally historic agreement to increase
  transparency
• Distribute business cards at all traffic stops
• Collect data
• Consent search advisories
• Training of officers to improve community
  relations

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Training as prompted by agreement

• Involved the use of local trainers from various
  communities of color.
• Focused on conveying the policing experience of
  members of diverse communities.
• Provided forum for members of communities of
  color to talk directly to police officers and
  share experiences.
• Some of the trainings elicited heated exchanges
  described by trainers and officers as
  destructive.

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Look toward a new model

• Importance of discussing varied goals of
  policing, issues of disparity, need to increase
  trust.
• Model sought that would achieve goals measurably.
• Training model sought that would engage all in
  understanding issues.
• Model sought that would create change.

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Initial training focus identified

• White male officers would become initial training
  focus.
• Emphasis placed on What works.
• Fuller engagement
• Not simply about creating a positive training
  experience, but
• Quality of experience
• Measurable cultural and behavioral change

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Why initial focus on white men

• White officers talked of feeling that they were
  talked to versus being talked with about
  issues of difference and policing.
• Disproportionality conversations resulted a
  feeling of fault on the part of many officers.
• Women and officers of color described difficulty
  in conveying the significance of their
  experiences to their white male counterparts.
• The question became How could white men become
  engaged in deeper and fuller ways?
• How could white officers feel that they were part
  of the solution versus a source of the problem?

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Training Researched

• Research data showed correlation between white
  male engagement and who conducted the training.
• Training consultants identified.
• Focus on W/M engagement.
• Developmental engagement of women officers and
  officers of color.
• Outsiders (corporate representatives) were
  important to training process.

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Training efforts researched

• Project efforts would be
• Qualitatively and Quantitatively measured
• Research would be academic in nature
• Quasi-experimental
• Experimental and control groups
• Measures for broader cultural influence
• Qualitative research might help explain
  quantitative changes.

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Research Measures

• Participant officer feedback
• Feedback from peers
• Complaints against police
• Obstructing legal process arrests
• Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
• Others

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Limited experimentation

• 7 W/M police officers attended training
• Selected based on range of factors not the
  choir!
• Retreat based training 3.5 days
• Police represented about 1/3 or training cohort
• Others predominantly corporate

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Participant reaction

• First day Challenging, Anger, Blame, Fear.
• Second day Experience of commonality,
  awkwardness with issues of difference, insight
  into own culture the way we see the world.
• Third day Role of W/M in helping facilitate
  change, importance of dialogue, and customer
  experience, action planning.

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Post training follow-up

• IDI changes noted
• Easier to discuss issues
• Without prompting several officers described
  insight that directly impacted discretionary
  decisions.
• All participants encouraged broader use of the
  training/learning model.
• All believed experience was of significant
  learning value, albeit different than typical
  police schools.
• All thought follow-up was necessary.

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Allies Training Phase II

• Select attendees from first training along with
  women officers and officers of color attended
  Phase II.
• Allies training is similarly process-oriented
• Mixture of a police and corporate cohort.
• Focus on full engagement across difference.
• Participant feedback overwhelmingly positive,
  identified as a need, and as valuable.
• Women and officers of color reported belief that
  training could change their experience internal
  to organization and policing generally.

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Current efforts

• Departmental affinity focus groups by race,
  gender, ethnicity.
• Periodic follow-up with white mens training and
  allies training participants.
• On-going IDI administration initially focused on
  pre-service personnel testing the water.

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Future efforts

• Full implementation of multi-year behavioral and
  cultural change project.
• Incremental and developmental.
• Active measurement of cultural and behavioral
  impact, if any.
• Are design measures exhibiting notable change?
• Do officers report change in perceptions of
  difference or ease in talking with one another
  about difference issues?
• Design of boosters to reinforce importance.
• Engage officers broader conversation

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Future efforts

• MN SAG funding statewide DMC Police Input
  Project
• Focused on line officers
• Training with exposure to DMC issues
• Facilitated focus groups
• Identification of issues by officers
• Discussion of what line officers can do
• Brainstorming of line officers suggestions
• Identification of training needs of officers as
  defined by officers.

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Goal

• Making overt efforts to address DMC through
  increased engagement.
• Identifying models that work to impact DMC as
  evidenced by behavioral change and disparate
  outcomes.
• Sustained efforts that give cultural change
  needed attention.

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Contact information

• Sergeant Paul Schnell
• Saint Paul Police Department
• 367 Grove Street
• Saint Paul, MN 55101
• Ph 651-266-5588
• Email paul.schnell_at_ci.stpaul.mn.us